How to deal with trouble Boss - (Feb/12/2008 )
To follow up, I don't want to trivialize or be overly cynical about focusing on your work.
Smu2 has some very good points.
When you go to apply for a post-doc, a big part of their decision to hire you is based on the presentation you'll be giving at your interview. When you can put your data on a screen, point to it and say "I did this.", and almost every slide in your presentation is like that, that's going to make an impression. Much more so than the student who's presentation consists mostly of other people's data. So, even if you aren't made first author on a paper, the amount of actual data you generated while a grad student is really important to getting your next job.
Also, focusing on your work is therapeutic. When you're really immersed in your experiments it's a lot easier to not dwell on how mean your boss is or how unfairly you're being treated (which is a normal reaction to your circumstances). When your experiments work, it's more rewarding than kind words from the PI. You may even find you're more interested in your own work and enjoying it more. And of course, the more work you get done, the sooner you can extract yourself from a bad lab.
Hang in there, Samita. Do your best to communicate with your boss, but in the meantime work hard and graduate soon.
If I'm not mistaken Samita's boss is also the slave driving kind so on top of this, this she-boss "takes" the results of her back-breaking work and gives it to someone else who'd grab most of the credit.
Isn't this intellectual property theft or fraud of some sorts?
So I ask myself....what are the odds of this professor giving her, if at all, a glowing recommendation if and when she finally decides to stay in that lab and finish her degree?
If the prof couldn't care about her while she's there, do you think she'd lose sleep over her (Samita's) future?
It makes you also wonder how much weight this letter of recommendation has since a lot of grad students would tolerate practically anything and everything to have it and along the same line why some professors feel that they can dish out whatever unfairness or even abuse they want.
I agree that oftentimes we have to make a lot of compromises when we work for and with people but to have someone take your work and to deny you that recognition...how can this happen? But it does....
Isn't this intellectual property theft or fraud of some sorts?
So I ask myself....what are the odds of this professor giving her, if at all, a glowing recommendation if and when she finally decides to stay in that lab and finish her degree?
If the prof couldn't care about her while she's there, do you think she'd lose sleep over her (Samita's) future?
It makes you also wonder how much weight this letter of recommendation has since a lot of grad students would tolerate practically anything and everything to have it and along the same line why some professors feel that they can dish out whatever unfairness or even abuse they want.
I agree that oftentimes we have to make a lot of compromises when we work for and with people but to have someone take your work and to deny you that recognition...how can this happen? But it does....
I agree with you that its a shame that this is happening to her. We would LIKE to think that such things don't or shouldn't happen in academia where the pursuit of knowledge should be the ultimate goal for everyone, but sadly this is not always the case. People still have to make a living, and competition is intense. As a consequence, sometimes we have to deal with the not so nice people once in a while. Yet, we should, and can, be comforted by the thought that this is actually rare in our profession. Talk to anyone outside of academia and you will realize how lucky we are to work with people who are so genuinely "nice". It is actually rare to find someone who doesn't want to help you succeed in this profession. I don't think that Samita has to worry about her boss giving her a bad recommendation. For her to do so would be a poor reflection on her as well. But, one thing that Samita might, and probably should do, is talk to some members of her thesis committee and express her concerns to them. They are supposed to serve as additional references who can attest to a student's abilities, and they can probably give her some direction without actually upsetting the boss.
My first reaction to what you posted (honestly) was something like:
"It sounds like your boss is a P.I."
Unfortunately, my P.I.s are very political...They try to divert credit to collegues (they're friggin friends) that will enable their collegues to get more grants/funding/prestige... it's not about helping YOUR career... it's about them helping their own network of friends..
It happened to me in a big way...and it SUCKS!!!
If you are NEW to the lab, consider switching advisors if possible, but be aware, it is not an uncommon phenomena... I'm sorry to say...
Also... What Cassandra said... but with a deeper voice... (Like a James Earl Jones type of voice!!! Yeah, that's the ticket...)
She's spot on... Hey, how did a FEMALE get so smart?
(steps back and waits for the violence to begin)
Was that a question mark up there?
Scary 